harmon



Feb. 7, 1956 s. J. HARMON 2,733,903

GAS SAVER Filed April 15, 19 53 4a 29 ml. I 24 I4 I! I I2 INVENTOR. SAMUEL J. HARMON BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent GAS SAVER Samuel J, Harmon, Pontiac, Mich. Application April 15, 1953, Serial No. 349,039 2 Claims. (Cl. 261-63) The present invention relates to a supplementary air inlet for carburetion systems for internal combustion engines and to the provision of an automatic valve to open and close the supplementary air inlet as the engine is speeded up or retarded. More particularly, the embodiment of the present invention relates to the provision of a flipper positioned between the air cleaner and the carburetor of a carburetion system of an internal combustion engine, said flipper sewing to control the amount of supplemental air admitted between the carburetor and intake manifold of said internal combustion engine.

It haslong been known that the efliciency of a gasoline engine at higher speeds can be improved if additional air is introduced in the intake manifold system at a point between the carburetor and the engine intake. This need for additional air to insure maximum operating eflicie ncy at high speeds results chiefly from carburetor design factors. The carburetion necessary for high speeds is different from that needed for low speeds. In order to provide a carburetor which will function satisfactorily at both high and low speeds and because it is generally more desirable tohave maximum carburetor efliciency at lowspeeds, the efliciency of operation at high speeds is sacrificed to provide more eflicient operation at low speeds.

Many attempts have been made to provide a supplemental air supply which functions only when the engine is operating at higher speeds. Some of these attempts have involved improved carburetor designs but it has been found that such improved carburetors are more expensive than is warranted by the increased operating efliciency.

The most practical of the solutions has been the provision of a supplemental air inlet ring or plate positioned between the base of the carburetor and the air intake manifold. Such an arrangement however is not satisfactory unless there is some means varying the supplemental air supply with the speed of the motor. This variation in supplemental air supply is necessary to prevent stalling or roughness of the motor at low speeds.

Previous attempts to provide this control of the volume of supplemental air have involved valves mechanically linked to the throttle control arm; or using separate control means, such as levers.

I have found that such means have proved unsatisfactory because the control is not sufficiently responsive or sufliciently synchronized to the variations in engine speed.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a control mechanism for a supplementary air inlet in the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine said controlmechanism acting in response to variations in the speed of the engine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a control mechanism having adjustment means to allow maximum efliciency of operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a supplementary air inlet for internal combustion engine 2,733,903 Patented Feb; 7, 1956 lice and a control mechanism therefore, said control mechanism and supplementary air inlet being adapted for simple and inexpensive installation on any engine of a variety of automobiles, trucks or the like.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

in the drawing:

The single figure is a plan view of a conventional carburetion system for an internal combustion gasoline engine such as that used in automobiles and trucks, with portions broken away to show the details of one embodi ment of the present invention.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring to the figure there is shown a carburetion system including the carburetor 10, andthe intake manifold 12, aflixed to a gasoline engine (not shown). According to the present invention a supplemental air inlet ring 14 is inserted between the base of the carburetor iii and. the intake manifold 12. The ring 14 is secured between the carburetor and the air intake manifold by any suitable means.

The supplemental air inlet ring 14 is provided with the annular air passage 18, and the screens 20. The screens 20 are here shown as three in number but this number may be varied as desired. The screens 20 are so arranged that the wirestherein are at angles toone another to provide maximum vaporization of the fuel air mixture passing therethrough. The screens 20 are securely heldat their circumferential edge portions and tightly pressed together by construction of the housing to assure a uniform distribution of the supplementary air from the annular air passage 18 to the intake manifold 12. Y

A control mechanism housing 22 is mounted on top of the carburetor 10. The flange 24 is provided at the top of the housing 22 for mounting of a conventional air filter (not shown).

A central passage 26 is provided in the housing 22 and is aligned with the carburetor air intake. The flipper 28 is hingedly mounted on the housing 22 at 30 with the flipper positioned in the central passage 26. It should be noted that the area of the passageway around flipper 28 should be equal to or greater than the area of the carburetor air intake. prevent the flipper from entirely shutting off the passageway 26.

The arm 32 extends outwardly from the flipper 28 and is linked to the butterfly valve 34 by the connecting link 36. The butterfly valve 34 is mounted on the bracket 38 which is aflixed to the housing 22 by any conventional means.

The tube 40 extends from the housing 22 to one side of the butterfly valve 34. The tube 42 connects the other side of the butterfly valve with the air inlet ring 14.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the vertical movement of the flipper 28 controls the butterfly valve 34, thereby regulating the amount of air introduced at the supplementary air inlet ring 14 through the tubes 40 and 42.

On the end of bracket 38 there is provided a threaded The stops 29 are provided to V stem 44. This stem extends upwardly through the arm 32 extending from the flipper 28. The coil spring 46 is positioned on stem 44 and bears between the upper face of arm 32 and the nut 48 provided on the stem. This spring therefore exerts a downward force on arm 32 thereby moving the flipper 28 to its'upward position and closing the butterfly valve 34. When the motor (not shown) is running the passage of air downwardly through the central passage 26 and into the carburetor will tend to force the flipper 28 downwardly against the force of the spring 46 thereby opening butterfly valve 34 and allowing air to pass through the tubes 40 and 42 into the supplementary air inlet ring 14 and thence into the fuel-air mixture stream flowing into the intake manifold 12. It is believed apparent that the action of the flipper 28 can be predetermined by screwing the nut 48 upward or downward on the stem 44 thereby varying the tension of the spring 46. The tension of the spring 46 is adjusted to the point where the flipper 28 will begin to move downward only as the speed of the motor is increased above idling and will be in its extreme downward position when the motor reaches top speed. Thus, additional air is introduced into the intake manifold only when the motor is running at higher speeds and the efficiency of the carburetor is not affected at low speeds or on starting.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In an internal combustion engine having a carburetor, an intake manifold, a supplemental air inlet in said intake manifold and a valve for controlling the flow of air through said supplemental air inlet, the provision of a housing mounted on said carburetor adjacent the main air inlet thereof, said housing having a central passage aligned with the air inlet passage of said carburetor, a flipper pivotally mounted on the sidewall of said housing and extending into the central passage in said housing the cross sectional area of said central passage being suflicient to provide air flow area around said flipper at least equal to, the air flow area through said carburetor, an arm extending from said flipper and outwardly from said housing, a bracket mounted on said housing and extending adjacent to and below said flipper arm, a threaded stem extending upwardly from said bracket and through a clearance hole provided in said flipper arm, a nut on the end of said threaded stem, a coil spring positioned around said stem between said nut and the upper face of said flipper arm, and linking means connecting said flipper arm with said supplemental air control valve.

2. In an internal combustion engine having a carburetor, an intake manifold, and a supplemental air inlet, the provision of a housing mounted on said carburetor adjacent the main air inlet thereof, said housing having a central passage aligned with the said main air inlet passage of said carburetor, a flipper pivotally mounted on the sidewall of said housing and extending into the central passage in said housing the cross sectional area of said central passage being suflicient to provide air flow area around said flipper at least equal to the air flow area through said carburetor, an arm extending from said flipper outwardly from said housing, a bracket mounted on said housing and extending adjacent to and below said flipper arm, a threaded stem extending up wardly from said bracket and through a clearance hole provided in said flipper arm, a nut on the end of said threaded stem, a coil spring positioned around said stem between said nut and the upper face of said flipper arm so as to exert a downward force on said flipper arm, a butterfly valve and housing mounted on the under side of said bracket, a conduit connecting said butterfly valve housing with said supplemental air inlet, and linking means connecting said flipper arm with said butterfly valve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

